User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
gearup727
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: January 5, 2009

Bottom Line:

I purchased what I think was the last new pair of Beta’s ever sold back in 1995. I got them from the audio club at the Rein Main Air Force Base, Germany. The audio club had originally bought 4 pairs. When I showed up they had one new pair that I bought for 7K. The club closed around a year later and the demo pair was sold along with the Renaissance 80s and 90s for half off the clubs cost; which was $3,300. I could have bought them but I was buying a bunch of other stuff.
The speakers replaced some RS-1s, which had replaced 4.5s. I started out pushing them with Yamaha M-80 amps and Monster cable. I purchased some Manley 440/200 tube amps and the speakers were absolutely transformed. Around the same time I upgraded from a CD player to the Audio Alchemy DDS-Pro, DTI Pro 32, DDE V3.0, Sonic Frontiers SFL-2, Tice Power Block, Bryston 4BST (on the woofers). All these upgrades form mid-fi gear were incremental and by the time I was done the speakers and system sounded better than any system I have heard to date.
The Infinity Beta can be a window on your stereo system. If there any weak links in your chain the speakers will reveal it. They sound really nice even with the mid-fi gear but they opened up and threw a sound stage that I have yet to reproduce in my home. For them to be at their best you will need a room where they can be a way out from the back wall and can be moved around to dial them in. Another observation is that they play and really open up at a particular sound level. There was a sweet spot you might say where the drivers really open up and the speakers are running on all cylinders. This sound level is loud, to loud for and apartment dweller. When played at this level the speakers create a 3-D sound stage that when you close your eyes there are no walls, no speakers just the instruments and singers.
I replaced the Beta’s with Genesis Iis in 1997. They are a great speaker also but are more of a line source. The Genesis play assume at all levels and with ease at higher levels than the Beta’s were capable of but I have never heard them image like the Beta’s. I think it’s because the Beta is appoint source dipole, where the IRS V, Genesis IIs are more of a line source. When I sold the Beta’s they were in absolute mint condition with boxes and all the original sales brochures and literature. These are hard to come by now and there have been many times I think I made a mistake. I guess you can only have so many big speaker sets. If have the opportunity to acquire a pair, have the room and supporting electronics you will drop some jaws.

Improvements done over the years have kept the speaker a
4.5+ out of 5. However, some of these changes are extreme
and I did them when I had more money than time. I also have
the Delta/Gammas which I learned from due to the fact that
the woofers on the Dalta/Gammas were bad.

There are few classics in the world that is what makes owning a classic all the more special. The Infinity IRS Beta’s are a set of speakers that easily step into that category. Infinity initially intended these speakers to be their flagship commercial speaker but enough people waved huge amounts of money at Infinity to get them to put out the IRS V commercially. The IRS V like the Wilson MAXX requires a floor that can support 1500lbs of speakers, not your average listening room.
You do need a larger than average room to enjoy this five piece system, my listening room is 20x24’ because the Beta’s are not small, each of the four columns standing over five feet tall, they want elbow room to develop their sound. They are imposing but rewarding. You will get the best from them only when using superior equipment especially needed are two high quality amps since this is a bi-amp speaker system to get results.
I am using a pair of Audio Research VT100 Mk II’s. You can use solid-state amps but you will need to be very careful, these speakers were designed to be driven by valve amps, they love current and the warmth a good tube amp provides.
When listening to a set of Beta’s the first thing you will notice is presence; it fills the room and you don’t need to hunt to find the stage like you do with other narrow focus electrostatics. Only the mbl radialstrahler 360-degree radiating designs matches its feel of being there. When properly set up the Beta’s yield imagery, transparency and depth few ever really get to experience.
The next revelation you will have is that bass is not mono or non-directional as is prevalently being promoted by subwoofer hype. This system ‘will’ produce a true 15 Hz signal that you don’t so much hear as feel, trust me when I say eight 12-inch woofers pumping in unison generates much more lifelike punch than the jolt a single subwoofer can supply and it fits into the imagery with the rest of the sound. The deep percussive feel of jazz piano or harpsichord or an off center drum kit will be there where you can point to it, so much for bass being non-directional.
Myself, the feature that still grabs my attention is the detail these speakers yield; the only other way I have gotten this much detail is through headphones. You do hear more of an honest, transparent and clear presentation with these speakers.
These speakers aren’t nirvana but are close, you need a large room and their owner must be willing to move the speakers around for a while to find out where they sound best. Due to their vintage the one real limitation is all connections to and from the servo controller to the amps are unbalanced. As a used speaker, they are a bargain and if you have the room for them you will be able to enjoy music as close to the live experience as you can have from your listening room.

THE INFINITY BETAS HAVE ANSWERED ALL MY AUDIO NEEDS WITHOUT HAVING TO SELL MY HOME. MY LISTINING ROOM IS ABOUT 11 METERS LONG AND 6 METERS WIDE. I HAVE TRIED MANY SPEAKERSYSTEMS QUADS ELS 63 WITH SUBS, DUNTECHS, MARTIN LOGANS AND I
COULD NEVER GET REAL-LIFE WEIGHT FROM THESE SYSTEMS.
I HAVE DONE SOME IMPROVEMENTS ON THE BETAS
LIKE BYPASSING THE DIODS. I STILL WANT T0
IMPROVE ON THE CAPS, LIKE MENTIONNED IN
A PREVIOUS REPORT.
I CAN GIVE ONE STRONG RECOMMONDATION TO ALL BETA USERS WHICH IS TO USE A T A C T
2.0 DIGITAL PREAMP/ROOM EQUILIZER WHICH
WILL HELP TO BRING THIS SUPER SPEAKERSYSTEM TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL. USING THE TACT WILL LEAD TO THE NEXT VERY
IMPORTEND UPGRADE WHICH IS TO FULLY BYPASS ALL THREE MID/TOP POTS. NEEDLESS TO SAY WHAT TYPE OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS
THAT ACHIEVED.
THE BASS TOWERS NEED TO BE DRIVEN BY A
TRANSISTOR AMP WHICH CAN DELIVER ABOUT
500 TO 1000 WATTS INTO 4 OHMS.
THE MID/TOP SPEAKER UNIT IS MORE DEMANDING. I HAD NO SUCCESS WITH HIGH POWERED TUBE AMPS. THEY JUST COULD NOT
DRIVE THESE 1 OHM SPEAKERS AT REASONABLE
LEVELS, EVEN AT LOW LEVELS THE TUBES WOULD NOT LAST FOR LONG THE LOAD IS JUST TOO DEMANDING. MY BEST RESULTS HAVE BEEN WITH JEFF ROWLAND AMPS. THEY SEEM TO HAVE
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, DRIVING THE PANELS AT HIGH LEVELS WITH NO PROBLEMS. I HAD NO SUCCESS WITH KRELL AND ML AMPS. I
FOUND THE SOUND TO BE TOO ANALYTICAL AND
COLD.

I want my fellow audiophiles to know that J Gordon Holt the former Editor of STEREOPHILE used these as his References for years he is now with Absolute Sound.
I have read all the Reviews going back to pre 95 1985 it was considered 1 of the three best speakers in the world.
I have replaced the passive crossovers old capacitors to return the sound to it lighting fast transient response. It cost about $50.00 for the parts wow, was it worth it the capacitors can leak if left unchanged for to many years.
I love the sound with Mark Levinson 380S pre-amp and SimAudio moon w5 mid high amplifier I am in audiophile haven.
I use an Aragon 4004 MKII mono amplifier for the bass panels.
My CD player is a Krell CD1
I recommend by passing the passive output from the active crossover unit. I go direct from the 380S to the moon W5. The load dips to two ohm. You must have a pre-amp with two main outputs or a Radio Shack Y cable to drive two units the mid-high amplifier and the active crossover unit for the bass amp the bass amp is controlled by a servo feed back signal that helps the bass not be boomy in the right size room.
I found this out from the above-mentioned reviews in Stereophile back issues. I recommend purchasing these reviews to understand the speakers.
The sound is Holograph. The bass will physically move you. The highs go beyond any electrostatic. You can tell the differences in the drumming of Jack and Tony the way these two great drummers use the shimmering sound of their symbols is totally riveting.
For bass the speakers have no equal. Yes they need lots of power. But they will give you dynamic range close to professional JBL or big horn systems. I have often been told buy friends they can hear the musicians breathing.
Try Ray Brown’s album” Some of my best friends are Piano players”. Or Ernestine Anderson” never make your move to soon” to hear what I’m talking about.
I know there are better speakers out there the creator of these speakers Arnie Nudel formerly with Infinity now the x owner of Geneses did sell some for $135,000.00Geneses is now bankrupt or the B&W Nautilus 801 for $11000.00 might beat them but are they crazy the amplifiers needed to drive these power hungry Speakers cost more then these used.
I am totally upgrading mine to the last Infinity Revision for the 1B E this gives the passive crossover the J Gordon HOLT mod three pots the t